Next Door To McCain Town Hall, Obama's Field Team Kicks Off National Tour

This article is part of HuffPost's Eyes & Ears health care town hall watch, where citizen journalist report on their local town hall meetings. Click "Join Now" to become part of the team.

PHOENIX, AZ -- It was 2008 all over again Wednesday night as Organizing for America (OFA), formerly Obama for America, launched their cross-country "Reform Health Care Now: Let's Get It Done Tour" from Arizona, a state that has becoming a focus of the Democratic Party.

The event had all of the trappings of a political campaign rally. Songs from Obama's 2008 presidential campaign blared from a PA system as more than a thousand Obama supporters filed in. Dozens of volunteers roved the crowd signing up new volunteers to phone bank, knock on doors, and do visibility in the street. The Obama logo and health care reform slogans were everywhere -- on the bus, on rally signs, on tee shirts, even on a dog sweater.

Meanwhile, just around the corner (less than a mile away), Obama's former presidential campaign rival, Senator John McCain, hosted a town hall for a raucous crowd that alternated between booing and cheering. One protester had to be forcibly removed when she kept interrupting the town hall by shouting. The crowd was divided between those who adamantly support health care reform (about one-third of the crowd) and those who adamantly oppose it (about two-thirds of the crowd), and both sides were vocal throughout the town hall.

Across the street from the OFA bus tour kickoff rally, about 25 anti-reform protesters gathered on the sidewalk to sound off against health care reform, and on the sidewalk on the rally side of the street, about 50 of the rally-goers lined up to chant lines like, "Hey ho! Hey ho! The status quo has got to go!" Several police officers were stationed between the groups, and the two sides bantered back and forth, but both sides stayed calm and kept the busy street between them.

The opening speaker told her own personal health care story. She was injured the same day as a professional athlete. She followed his progress in the news over the next couple of months as he received treatment, had surgery, and recovered. Although she had the same injury, she says she was forced to go without treatment for a few months because her health insurance company denied her claim. Just as paralysis was beginning to set in, a relative who works for a law firm that practices medical malpractice intervened, and she was able to have the surgery and treatment she needed.

Several local public officials also spoke, and the National Director of OFA, Mitch Stewart also addressed the crowd. Democratic Arizona Representative Kyrsten Sinema, who is a member of Obama's Special Task Force on Health Reform, told the crowd that most Americans want health reform but that many have been frightened by misinformation circulating around the issue.

"We need your voice!" Sinema told the crowd, "The people with the misinformation and the lies are the ones in front of the microphone, and they're making people afraid of what they want, what we all need."

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Comments

[journey80]

01:25 PM on 08/28/2009

Are they starting at Goldman Sachs headquarte­rs?

[scrzbill]

12:39 PM on 08/28/2009

Wednesday night in Santa Cruz will be a MOVE ON gathering to support health care. It will be a beautiful night by the sea. Join us if you can.

Santa Cruzing Bill

[sarabono]

01:20 PM on 08/28/2009

A little to fare from Orlando, sorry.

[clueless JD]

09:08 PM on 08/29/2009

What exactly does Move On support?

If the real reform we expected after election of 2008, then I might join you.

If it's a "victory" that expands coverage at great cost without regulating practices and profit margins, then it's just a windfall book of new business for capitalist med interests -- and you can count me out.

[spinns17]

11:26 AM on 08/28/2009

YES WE WILL.

[rblaquinta]

11:01 AM on 08/28/2009

I was at UKMC townhall with Sen. Claire M. and it was awesome 1300 people showed up maybe 200 rethugs...­.but it was great!!!!!­! Go President Obama. Don't be fooled by the media which only covers the wackjobs..­.there is a lot of support!!!­!

[THORYOU]

10:54 AM on 08/28/2009

Rep. Sinema own word's make her sound like statest " making people afraid of what they want, want they ALL need.

[noudidnt]

05:56 AM on 08/28/2009

Too late.

[mrskorn]

03:32 AM on 08/28/2009

Oh please. The campaign is over. Time for work.

[Ifticar]

02:04 AM on 08/28/2009

Take a good look at the picture above. See those signs? Those signs are signaling AstroTurf from Obama's Organizing For America. They are sending out these signs to their disciples everywhere­. Many of the people holding these signs have been bussed in to augment the rally. The signs get distribute­d with talking point.

[vonPinto]

06:40 AM on 08/28/2009

Sooooooo?

[Jaywalkker]

02:29 PM on 08/28/2009

Fire with fire, as the saying goes. But notice how these people want reform to end denials, profiteeri­ng, universal coverage, and in general, joining the ranks of every civilized society on earth. They're not crying out about conspiracy theories. But if you're one of those who filled in the GOP questionai­re that intimated reform would use voter registrati­on records to bar treatment of conservati­ves by medical profession­als and are bothered by that, be my guest.

[lynettema]

12:42 AM on 08/28/2009

MSM will never report this, but they will report the 25 people that showed up at our town hall screaming about myths they saw on the Internet.

[clueless JD]

11:47 PM on 08/27/2009

Q. How did Obama get nothing done with big majorities in both houses?

A. He tried to reach a balance between the 10% of population that has 90% of the capital and the 90% of the people who have 10% of the capital. That's something you might try if you have all the power of a community organizer. I for one imagined he would be more ambitious considerin­g he now has all the power of the Executive and Legislativ­e branches. It was in fact realistic to expect change. But it's not going to happen if the President keeps playing the same games, expecting a different outcome. That's the definition of ...[all together now].

[Weirdwriter]

01:15 AM on 08/28/2009

Apt self name fer yer profile, Junior.

[avchavis]

08:33 PM on 08/27/2009

Yes! I can't wait until Saturday when we have ours in Charlotte, NC!

[gettingitright]

08:07 PM on 08/27/2009

It's about time. This debate has been lopsided for too long. Can't someone organize a series of debates (along the same lines as the Presidenti­al ones) so we can hear facts presented (and challenged­) in a rational manner and have someone like Brian Williams moderate. The townhall forum doesn't appear to be the best vehicle for disseminat­ing informatio­n.

[JaneK13]

09:06 PM on 08/27/2009

Town hall forums are supposed to be for citizens to speak , and for politician­s to listen.

A town hall event isn't a debate. It is a way for citizens to tell their representa­tives what they want.
And, this year, the citizens are coming out in larger numbers than ever. It's the American way.

Like Speaker Pelosi says -- it's democracy in action...a­nd that's a good thing for the country.

[gettingitright]

10:14 PM on 08/27/2009

I understand that. But most citizens don't attend town hall meetings and most of us are unable to separate fact from fiction because the rhetoric is in overdrive.
A televised debate where the presenters actually get follow-up questions is important.
Town halls are usually for general concerns and obviously trying to get educated on one of the most important issues of the day (health care reform) requires a much more formal and sober setting. People can listen to all sides of an issue and make qualified judgments. This is also the American way.

[lynettema]

12:36 AM on 08/28/2009

I don't think they should be debates. I think Congress should have some forums where we are given the facts about the bills and THEN have town halls so people would come to the town halls with the correct informatio­n. However, these protesters aren't interested in facts, they are just against anything a Democratic government will do. They are loud and rude, but the Democrats have been winning the elections and it's time to govern differentl­y from the way the GOPers do it. We tried it their way and the nation sank into bankruptcy­. Time to see if the Democrats can do any better. But the GOPers don't want anything but the status quo that tanked us.

[sushi27]

08:06 PM on 08/27/2009

If none of this makes sense, it's because those opposing healthcare reform aren't really opposing healthcare reform - they are opposed to Obama being elected President, period.

You know the old saying about 'Cutting off your foot despite your leg' - duh. The Republican­s are using these people to push their Political agenda - these people don't realize they are hurting themselves and their families - very, very sad for America - Politics over People.

[JaneK13]

09:11 PM on 08/27/2009

People who are opposed to the Obama health care reform plan respect the president and the presidency­. They are just opposed to the legislatio­n he's proposed (HR-3200.) The proposed legislatio­n is on the internet and most of te people who oppose it read the bill. And they recognize that we can do better!

[Charmed]

09:15 PM on 08/27/2009

They do not respect President Obama....i­f they did they would be walking around with guns and yelliing silly stuff. But it's okay, I'm sure he expected it.

[damyanky]

11:23 PM on 08/27/2009

Where is their "better"? The opposition has had plenty of time to offer their own bill. Obama clearly said, early on, that he would welcome the input. He asked for bi-partisa­n work on this. No go.
It's about racial fury; It's about frustratio­n about the economy; It's about general fear of being out of control; It's about a scary level of ignorance.

[foxnews4ever]

11:00 PM on 08/27/2009

They are opposing healthcare b/c the only thing the government does right is destroy and kill people.


Social security..­...bankrup­t

medicaid..­....bankru­pt

medicare..­...bankrup­t

post office....­.bankrupt

amtrak....­.bankrupt

katrina...­...disaste­r

iraq war strategy..­...disaste­r

Yet all you obamacare lovers,see­m to think controllin­g a third of the economy is something the government should do.It's lunacy!!

you know you are losig a debate,whe­n the best counter you got is oh,they are just racists!!

[unite4change]

11:19 PM on 08/27/2009

Foxnew4eve­r, The American people are the government­. It's the representa­tives we elect and re elect that's destroying our government­.

[Freakpower]

11:39 AM on 08/28/2009

It's a shame what the republican­'s have done to the country, isn't it! No wonder, you don't trust government­. Your side is corrupt, inept.

[Lorianne]

05:51 PM on 08/27/2009

Dennis Kucinich on Democrats and Health Care
http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=OOB0f3I1A­Xk

[Menemshasunset]

05:01 PM on 08/27/2009

Have you guys forgotten that this administra­tion made a secret deal with Pharm? We have no idea what they are doing-the last thing we want is the quality to go down-the costs to go up- Talk to anyone who works with medicare and medicaid patients and they will tell you the unbelievab­le amount of fraud- So many people need so much and yet government system is unable to handle the swindling of the system- No one talks about that medical waste- We need a real clear plan and no one has it yet- The fact that our economy is still in shambles -double digit unemployme­nt will be with us for another year-we're printing and borrowing money- the dollar is being devalued-w­e still in midst of two wars (and are using billions of dollars worth of paid mercenarie­s that the press is not reporting-­Blackwater etc.) Elizabeth Warren- TARP oversight chair says that if we didn't like the residentia­l mortgage collapse then we really won't like it when the truth about the commercial loans hits- So much to work on right now- Healthcare has been talked about for decades- let's ask our politician­s to straighten out the mess first before we try to take on something that represents such a big part of our economy. Educate yourselves­-We're still using renditions­- NOTHING has changed except the words- Demand to know the truth- it's the least the media can do-

[ruoth]

05:31 PM on 08/27/2009

"Lets ask our politician­s to straighten the mess first...."

You do realize that is the very reason health care has been talked about for decades without anything being done right?

[foxnews4ever]

11:04 PM on 08/27/2009

50 billion dollars in medicaid FRAUD!!!!

Yes,Go research it .....all you government option lovers go check out the 50 billion dollars in medicaid FRAUD!!!


SO how much fraud do you thionk will be in the government controllin­g a 1/6 of the u.s economy.

ANSWER THAT QUESTION??

[cigi]

06:27 PM on 08/27/2009

We have been putting off today what we can do for tomorrow for the last thirty years. I hate the deficit, but I have lived through deficits before. If you put the people back to work IN AMERICA, we can pay it off. We have had downturns in the economy...­try the 60s, 70s, 80s...it is all cyclical. We need to fix healthcare as it WILL bankrupt this country if let go unabated. 70+ banks have failed in 2009, so far, but pulling the plug on the whole WORLD Financial sector last Sept. would have been worse. We used to be more resilient as Americans. During the Depression my Dad and two of his brothers went into the Navy and were paid a scant $21 per month. Each of them sent Gran home $15 a piece to help her raise the four children still at home. We went to war in 2002..big mistake, but it is what it is. Then Bush gave the upper 1% a tax cut...anot­her assinine move on his part. No one has made any sacrifices­...we have all been hangin' at the mall. Time to raise taxes on business who have made money the whole time and also it is "personal" tax chip in time for all the rest of us. Do we have the guts? How red, white and blue do we really feel?